Ian McCormack's Testimony of Heaven and Hell

Ian McCormack

Let me share with you the amazing story of a man from New Zealand named Ian McCormack, who died and saw heaven and hell. It's a true story of how he was traveling the world, surfing, and pursuing peace through sex, drugs, and rock n' roll. But he wasn't finding the peace he was searching for in those things.

Eventually he found himself on the island of Mauritius (in the Indian Ocean just off the coast of Madagascar), and one night he went out scuba diving for crayfish out beyond the coral reef.  There beneath the water he was stung five times by the deadly box jellyfish, which was excruciatingly painful and felt like thousands of volts of electricity. The sting from one of them is enough to kill a man, but he was stung five times. Through this experience he eventually died as the medical personnel were trying to save his life.

But just before he died, as he was eventually being transported to the hospital by ambulance, his life flashed before him. He saw scenes from his childhood. The next moment, he saw was his mother on her knees praying and he was shaken. She was saying what she told him as a fourteen-year old boy when he walked away from Church. She said, "Ian, no matter how far from God you may be, no matter what you've done wrong, if you call to God from your heart, God will hear you, and God will forgive you."

In that ambulance, as he was experiencing death rattles, he said, "God, if you're real, help me to pray," and the Lord's prayer appeared before his eyes. The first phrase of the prayer he saw was "forgive us our sins." And one by one, as he prayed from his heart each part of the prayer that was shown to him, that part then disappeared and he saw more and more parts of it that he had once learned as a child, but since forgotten.

In this manner, he had made peace with God, by sincerely turning from sin and asking the Lord for forgiveness. He promised to do the Lord's will and honor Him all the days of his life, if the Lord would get him through this ordeal. An incredible peace entered his heart like he had never experienced before, and which has not left him since then.

After he died, he experienced the horrors of hell, and later after crying out to God in hell asking why he was there, a brilliant light came down and drew him out of darkness. After ascending through a tunnel of light, he then found himself standing before the glorified Lord Jesus Christ, who was wearing dazzling white robes and had His arms outstretched. The Lord was emanating an incredibly bright light all around Him, and His face was so bright that Ian could not make out the features on it. Wave after wave of love was emanating into him from the Lord. Ian was weeping and wondering, "What am I doing here? How could God love me?" The Lord said, "Ian, God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all." (1 Jn 1:5). And the Lord showed him that all his sins had been forgiven when he was in that ambulance. Christ's blood had not just washed away some of his sins, but all of them.

As Ian looked into the Lord's face, it was like looking into eternity within eternity. It was like the cosmos, galaxies, and star systems were coming out of  His face. He knew that if the Lord would speak, galaxies would come into existence. His hair was pure white and shoulder length. Out of His face came light that when it touched him he felt instant purity, childlike innocence, and holiness. The Lord gave Ian a glimpse of eternity, in which Ian got to see what heaven and the new earth is like.

The Lord gave him the option to stay or return to earth. Initially he didn't think he had anyone on earth who loved him that he needed to go back to, but then the Lord showed him his mother and a myriad of countless people behind her that the Lord loved. The Lord wanted Ian to tell them about Him. Ian then said, "I must go back!" The Lord then granted his request to return to earth, saying, "Ian, if you go back, you must see things in a new light from a heavenly perspective." He then sent him back through the tunnel and into his body. When he entered his body in the morgue, the doctors and nurses were freaking out, because he had just come back from the dead after being gone for 15 to 20 minutes.

Original Testimony
Ian is a very precious brother in Christ, who has been faithfully sharing his testimony and preaching the gospel around the world for the past thirty five years or so. He has been on CBN's 700 Club and Revelation TV.  However, the following video is the first ever recording of Ian's testimony, which was filmed in 1988 at a farmers house in New Zealand.



The Perfect Wave - A Glimpse of Eternity
A major motion picture has been produced about his story called The Perfect Wave, which you can watch below.



Resources
Ian has an excellent website called A Glimpse of Eternity. There you will find his testimony available in many other languages. He even has a version of it with subtitles for the deaf. He has also posted there excellent teachings of his in both video and written format.

Closing Words
Perhaps you have been searching for peace in all the wrong places like Ian was. Perhaps you can relate to his story in one way or another, but you don't know Jesus. You haven't met Him personally, but you are being drawn to Him now that you've heard this testimony. If that's you, then remember what Ian's mother said to him. "No matter how far from God you may be, no matter what you've done wrong, if you call to God from your heart, God will hear you, and God will forgive you." Please go to the section at the end of this article called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?" Follow the link to that article and after you have read it, I challenge you to pray and invite the Lord into your heart to be your Lord and Savior.

Meanwhile, I hope this has helped you, no matter who you are, no matter what your situation is, whether you are a backslidden Christian that's drifted away from God, or someone who knows the Lord but needs to draw closer to Him. Let the Lord speak to you through this testimony. He's calling us all to repent of our sins, turn from darkness, and seek Him with all of our heart. I hope you will share this article with someone else who needs to see it.

Author's note: Ian is not personally connected with this site. Please prayerfully listen to his testimony, and use the Testimony Review Process adopted by this blog, as you decide for yourself whether the Lord has spoken to him.  For issues and concerns, each person must confirm with the Lord, whether something is valid or not. For more information on our position, please see Disclaimers.

I also encourage you to read Australian Pastor Raised from the Dead, Angelica Zambrano Hell and Heaven and The Judgment Seat of Christ. If you enjoyed this post, please also see Ibrahim's Experience in Hell. You may find more blogs like this one at the Main Directory for Eternal Destinations, and find a collection of all my blogs at Writing for the Master.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Australian Pastor Raised from the Dead

Viliame "Bill" Kolikata, pastor in Australia

This is the testimony of a Fijian man, named Viliame "Bill" Kolikata, pastor of Living Stones Mission Fellowship in Australia. While attending a prayer meeting at the great hall of the Parliament House, Canberra, on October 22, 2007, he had a heart attack and died.  About twenty minutes later, he was resuscitated.  This is a factual account that has been medically documented.  Now he has a powerful message for the church and pastors today, as he retells the experience he had while he was dead.

"My heart just stopped and reports in the hospital said I was gone for 20 minutes. The doctors explained to me he can't do resuscitation on my mouth because there was no life, so he did it on my nose," Kolikata said. "They felt the heartbeat again, but it was in and out. I was in comatose for three days. They prayed and commanded the spirit of death to leave."

Kolikata said that while he was dead, his spirit left his body and went on a journey. As he looked back on this world, it was a very dark, sad place that seemed haunted.  There was nothing here that made him want to come back.

"I (could) see my body and saw the angels around me and they took me. I came to a beautiful place. On top of the mountain was a beautiful church strong. But one thing catches my eyes, the foundation of the building was made up of white sand," he shared.

He saw a beautiful church on a mountaintop in rainbow colors.  It was on sand like the white sands of the Caribbean lagoons.  He was told that this was the church on earth today.  It is built on sand.

"The voice of the Lord said, 'Son, what you are seeing now is the picture of My Church in the world. It's beautiful, but the foundation is very weak. You need to take this message to church,'" Kolikata continued.

The Lord told him, “My servants have departed from Me.  They have departed from My ways.  There are a lot of sins in the church. There is no holiness.  The Church has compromised.  Repent.  Repent before me. Humble yourself.  Turn from your wicked ways.”

The Lord showed him that the church is involved in alcohol, drugs, sexual immorality, and many other things.  But no one wants to say anything, because no one wants to offend anybody. He went on to say, "God is not happy. Jesus is not happy."

Shortly after Kolikata's experience, the leaders of Willow Creek Church near Chicago repented publicly for their mistakes.  That church has been built on the seeker friendly model of church growth.  They do and preach what people want to hear.  They have spent millions of dollars doing this. They published Kolikata's story a few days after it happened.  They confessed that after all these years, they have not done the right thing.  There is no discipleship in the church.

Kolikata exhorts disciples of Christ by saying, "Pour your energy into serving the Lord and His kingdom.  Invest your talents in His service.  Pray, 'Lord, this is for You.'”

He points out that we are all so focused on the natural, material realm.  We invest in it.  It doesn’t matter how much you build in the natural.  You cannot take any of it with you.  Everything we build will be destroyed.  He says, "Give everything you’ve got to the Lord: your own life, your wife, your husband, your children, your talents, your energy.  Always glorify God in everything you do and say."

He emphasizes the need for a return to fasting, praying, feeding on the Word of God, because we are in a battle against darkness 24/7. He exhorts us to "Start doing what God says.  Stop building on material things.  Stop fulfilling your own plans and designs. Relationship comes first and then ministry.  Make sure your relationship with God is right first.  This is critical." 

I believe that many pastors today think they are doing the right thing.  And if they hear of this story, they may be inclined to dismiss it as potentially false, and something that does not apply to them.  But Kolikata warns us not to do this.  He says, "All seven churches in Revelation thought they were focused on the right thing.  They were not aware of their sin until Jesus the Head of the Church revealed it to John.  The message for all [except two of the] seven churches was 'repent.'"

He warns, "The Church does not belong to the pastors.  It belongs to Jesus."  There is only one Head of the church, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ.  We need to restore Him to His rightful place once again. Today, Kolikata shares this message from the Lord with churches and anyone else who will listen.

Attribution: Excerpts of this story were used with permission from CBN News from an article called "Prayer Movement 'Rising Up' Australia."  Other excerpts were taken from a 40-minute video of his testimony that was once posted online, but has since been marked private, and is no longer accessible to the general public.

Author's note:  The pastor featured in this article is not personally connected with this site. Please prayerfully listen to his testimony, and use the Testimony Review Process adopted by this blog, as you decide for yourself whether the Lord has spoken to him.  For issues and concerns, each person must confirm with the Lord, whether something is valid or not. For more information on our position, please see Disclaimers.

If you enjoyed this post, I recommend reading an article, called "Snatched from Death to Life during the National Prayer Call", by Danny Nalliah, the pastor who led the prayer service in which Kolikata died. It contains brother Danny's testimony of how the event unfolded from his perspective on the podium. You may also like the other posts in this blog available through the Main Directory for Eternal Destinations, such as Nigerian Pastor Raised from the Dead, Korean Pastor Raised from the Dead, The Four Tallest Homes in Heaven, Only the Holy -- Three Shocking Testimonies, and A Warning for Christian Married Couples. You may also access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master." 

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.